73 replies to this topic

[Mister Asterix]

[mra]I quite like this cover. It looks more like a reprint of a Fleming than the UK does. The UK cover is more pleasing artistically, but this cover just fits better.

I think I

[minder125]

I don't like it..............



........I love it

It has the old school pulp vibe which is what made the Fahey covers so great.

[marktmurphy]

I like this cover better than the UK version.

Well, we Brits certainly lucked out with our version of the cover - it surpasses this dross by miles.

Which seems to prove that the guys from the book cover design departments in both countries know their markets!
Americans like their retro (Mustang, Challenger, Camaro) and Europeans like a bit of modernity (Jaguar XF, BMWs etc.)!

That said, I do think this is a tasty concept which could have worked equally well even if not rendered in a retro style. In much the same way, a girl looking like a flower could have been easily illustrated in a retro fashion.

[Jeff007]

Love it. Pretty cool.

[zencat]

Oh please be the start of new continuation series with all the covers being in this style.

[mccartney007]

Oh please be the start of new continuation series with all the covers being in this style.

Man, that would be frickin' awesome!

[Mr. Blofeld]

Oh please be the start of new continuation series with all the covers being in this style.

Man, that would be frickin' awesome!

Wouldn't it be fun to get a re-release of Colonel Sun and (finally!) a proper release of Per Fine Ounce to go along with it?

I know, only in my dreams, but wouldn't it be fun to thing of it as the Post-Fleming Trilogy?

Per Fine Ounce
Devil May Care
Colonel Sun

Make one dream come true...

[tdalton]

I love the cover for the book. Can't wait for its release

[sharpshooter]

Great cover. It looks like a Fleming first issue!

[TheSaint]

Surprised so many people prefer the UK cover, which looks like a shampoo ad to me.

But then, that's what makes horse races. Anyway, less people to fight for a decent copy at the bookshop!

You win! That's the best description of the UK cover I've heard so far. I love the US cover. I was planning on buying DMC but this cover has got me psyched for it!

[Gobi-1]

Score one of the US of A! We've been on the short end of the stick when it comes to Bond and now we finally have something to be proud of.

This is what those new Fleming Hardcovers should look like.

I'm now officially pumped for Devil May Care.

[Blofeld's Cat]

I really like both the UK and US covers. Probably means I'll have to buy both now!

[Qwerty]

Oh please be the start of new continuation series with all the covers being in this style.

That would just be perfect.

Hoping to see this prominently displayed in Borders, B&N and the like come May.

[sharpshooter]

I'm not sure to which I like better. I like the simplistic but excellent image of the UK cover, but I also like this one. Possibly like this one more, but the UK image is the trademark of the book.

[Double-Oh Agent]

It's almost too understated and plain for me, but the Bond figure and pulpiness of the cover save it for me. In other words, I give a thumbs up, but not an enthusiastic thumbs up.

[Byron]

The US cover isn't bad but it's far from spectacular. Frankly i don't understand what all the fuss is about.

The UK one is superior in terms of conveying the mystery and perhaps a hint of the novel's plot.

[Zorin Industries]

I like it. It's a lot more progressive than the British cover which is a beautiful image but - put alongside this one - emerges as a tiny bit cliched. This US cover art speaks volumes about the masculinity and pared down nature of the Bond franchise as opposed to ten years ago.

[MarcAngeDraco]

The best thing about this US cover is that it will still look great on the shelf with just the spine showing...

[David Schofield]

The best thing about this US cover is that it will still look great on the shelf with just the spine showing...

Well, the US version will certainly sit better on the shelf between Colonel Sun and James Bond, the Spy Who Loved Me.

Which as a Brit with a love of the true, Cape first editions and their covers, is a sad thing to admit.

[MystikTK]

Abolsutely love the cover. I still greatly dislike the whole "writing as Ian Fleming" gimmick.

[Yellow Pinky]

I greatly prefer this US version over the UK one, which as a graphic designer myself, I found shockingly poor. I think it's ghastly and doesn't even begin to capture a Fleming literary feel. For that matter I don't think it captures a good Bond film feel either.

For once the US version is the one I prefer - by quite a ways in fact.

And I also don't care at all for the "writing as Ian Fleming" tag.

Edited by Yellow Pinky, 04 March 2008 - 03:27 PM.

[David Schofield]

And I also don't care at all for the "writing as Ian Fleming" tag.

Not sure who does...

Sadly, I feel this is a get-out clause for Faulks viz his more "serious" works, saying, almost, to those "serious minds" thta laugh at DMC - hey, its because I was mimicking Fleming.

Shows a lack of courage and confidence on Faulks part and, IMO, does not bode well...

[Zorin Industries]

And I also don't care at all for the "writing as Ian Fleming" tag.

Not sure who does...

Sadly, I feel this is a get-out clause for Faulks viz his more "serious" works, saying, almost, to those "serious minds" thta laugh at DMC - hey, its because I was mimicking Fleming.

Shows a lack of courage and confidence on Faulks part and, IMO, does not bode well...

He'd have had nothing to do with that decision. It's about the Fleming estate not trusting their product in the face of countless spin-off sub-fare Bond fictions...

[David Schofield]

And I also don't care at all for the "writing as Ian Fleming" tag.

Not sure who does...

Sadly, I feel this is a get-out clause for Faulks viz his more "serious" works, saying, almost, to those "serious minds" thta laugh at DMC - hey, its because I was mimicking Fleming.

Shows a lack of courage and confidence on Faulks part and, IMO, does not bode well...

He'd have had nothing to do with that decision. It's about the Fleming estate not trusting their product in the face of countless spin-off sub-fare Bond fictions...

Have to disagree, Zoz. Think it's Faulks protecting his literary credibility. ("I'll do the book IF you'll let me hide behind Fleming's name").

I mean, surely the name Sebastian Faulks on a book - from IFP's point of view - would be sufficient to convince readers that the woun't be getting the standard Gardner/Benson fare (which is what I presume you mean by "countless spin-off sub-fare Bond fictions...)

[zencat]

It could also be purely a business/contractual thing. Faulks is doing DMC outside his regular publisher. That publisher may have an exclusive on "Sebastian Faulks" novels, and billing him this way may have been the only way to finesse a deal. I don't know this for a fact, but it's possible. I'm not really too bent out of shape about it.

[Skudor]

Ho, baby, I love that cover! I like this better than the UK cover (that's a first). VERY very nice.

It's a cool cover, but I prefer the UK one though.

[Zorin Industries]

And I also don't care at all for the "writing as Ian Fleming" tag.

Not sure who does...

Sadly, I feel this is a get-out clause for Faulks viz his more "serious" works, saying, almost, to those "serious minds" thta laugh at DMC - hey, its because I was mimicking Fleming.

Shows a lack of courage and confidence on Faulks part and, IMO, does not bode well...

He'd have had nothing to do with that decision. It's about the Fleming estate not trusting their product in the face of countless spin-off sub-fare Bond fictions...

Have to disagree, Zoz. Think it's Faulks protecting his literary credibility. ("I'll do the book IF you'll let me hide behind Fleming's name").

I mean, surely the name Sebastian Faulks on a book - from IFP's point of view - would be sufficient to convince readers that the woun't be getting the standard Gardner/Benson fare (which is what I presume you mean by "countless spin-off sub-fare Bond fictions...)

And I'll disagree again, David S. No offence, but its not a Sebastian Faulks or his agent's notion. Its because the Fleming estate is releasing a centenary Bond book which would be redundant if there were no nod to Fleming on the cover. Either way, it's a clumsy way of getting Fleming mentioned.

Whatever author it was would have had the same situation. Its also not in the novel's best interest to go anonymous as the speculation as to who wrote it would detract from the release of the book itself.

Edited by Zorin Industries, 04 March 2008 - 04:22 PM.

[MarcAngeDraco]

Its because the Fleming estate is releasing a centenary Bond book which would be redundant if there were no nod to Fleming on the cover. Either way, it's a clumsy way of getting Fleming mentioned.

If that was the deal, I think they would have used the old standby of "Ian Fleming's James Bond 007 in..." as they have done before...

[Scrambled Eggs]

Its because the Fleming estate is releasing a centenary Bond book which would be redundant if there were no nod to Fleming on the cover. Either way, it's a clumsy way of getting Fleming mentioned.

If that was the deal, I think they would have used the old standby of "Ian Fleming's James Bond 007 in..." as they have done before...

Agreed. "Ian Fleming's James Bond in..." just seems a more obvious way of getting Fleming's name on the cover.
I think the wording is certainly a way of distancing DMC from Faulks's other work, but it's not really something which we should be offended by.

[Yellow Pinky]

I tend to agree with Mr. Schofield on this one. I believe it was a requirement of Faulks, not the Fleming estate.

That said, I don't think it is necessarily due to a lack of confidence or support from Faulks. I think writing it as Fleming was a literary device that Faulks deliberately chose and doesn't want to confuse his other body of work with something that was done within a strict style guideline.